The Fall of Aeroworth
by logo365
Summary: Jobs are scarce, criminals abundant, and the future uncertain as Aeroworth's major corporations suffer a financial crisis. A street artist turned revolutionary. A terrorist ready to claim unrivaled power. An officer's attempt to rescue order from chaos. And an assassin content to see a city of peace become a stage of war. Whose vision for the city will rise from the ashes?
1. Chapter 1

A chilling wind sweeps through the night air, and the streets are consumed with a roaring crowd and waves of police sirens. Above, among the skyscrapers, is Tracer swinging from her harness, finishing the last details of her graffiti. _"Overthrow the Suited Traitors! Exposed by Tracer!"_

Tracer has now left her mark upon ThetaCorp Global HQ. She adjusts the livefeed camera in her goggles, ensuring the image is properly framed. "A much more accurate advertisement, don't you think?" she teases to the audience, her voice filtered through the breather.

A police chopper swoops in from behind, angling its blinding searchlight directly on Tracer.

"Was wondering when they'd get here," she cheers. "Time to give them the slip."

Tracer releases her harness and nosedives at an increasingly face pace. The crowd below shrieks as the searchlight continues following her. She charges up her chronal accelerator, and blinks to a nearby rooftop. The chopper follows the streak of faint, bluish light, and readjusts its searchlight on her.

She begins sprinting across the rooftops, blinking over the many separating gaps between them. The chopper's blades whip a powerful gust around her, and its light is constantly trained on her.

The sniper begins tracking her movements, while the pilot shouts on the megaphone, "This is your only warning! You are under arrest! Surrender now!"

"Pfft," she says to herself. "Think you could ask a little louder?"

The sniper then takes a shot along Tracer's path, and it narrowly misses her body as she jumps to the side. "Whoa! Heh-heh, guess they _really_ don't like me!"

Tracer starts to zig-zag throughout her sprint. Unfortunately, the current set of rooftops don't offer many options for change of direction, forcing her to keep the predictable path forward.

She blinks across the next gap, and as she exits the blink, Tracer spots the sniper trained right on her. Without a second of hesitation, she rewinds back behind the gap, and the shot passes right through where she was. She shakes it off, and blinks back across the gap, continuing her sprint.

"Whew!" she pants. "Okay, that was _too_ close. Think it's time I ended this little race."

Tracer zig-zags towards the chopper with two blinks, and then jumps towards it. She uses the third blink to appear inside the chopper directly behind the sniper. Tapping him on the shoulder with her gun, she taunts, "Over here, love."

The sniper attempts to turn and face her, but she quickly shoots his face with orange spraypaint, causing him to cry in pain. She then quickly steps to the edge of the platform, and sprays a thick coat onto the searchlight.

"Don't wait up!" she salutes to the fallen sniper, and blinks back onto the rooftops.

The chopper begins to spin sporadically as it attempts to track Tracer, but she's already blinked down to a narrow alleyway below. She rests her hands on her knees and finally catches her breath. "Well, that's another item to cross off the ol' bucket list, hahaha!" She straightens her posture and resumes, "Anyhow, folks, you've seen it live right here! Your voices are being heard, and the stuffed-shirts hiding in their fancy suites can't ignore you anymore!"

Tracer begins spraying on the wall behind her. "You're all losing your jobs, your homes, your very lives! You clock in and out like you're supposed to. Then the bigwigs make a few bad business decisions, and who's left to suffer? Not them! But that ends now!"

She finishes the last details of her graffiti to reveal her earlier phrase, _"Overthrow the Suited Traitors! Exposed by Tracer!"_

"Your time of literally paying for their mistakes is over! And I know they can hear us, even now! There are hundreds like me out there every day spreading the message! You can't ignore us! You can't hide from us! And you definitely can't defeat us! Overthrow the Suited Traitors! Exposed by Tracer!"

She then ends the livefeed on her goggles, and blinks off into the nearby streets.

 _Note: cover image by Its-Midnight-Reaper on DeviantArt._


	2. Chapter 2

The dead of night is filled with the fearsome explosions of rapid gunfire. A major intersection amidst the metropolis has several abandoned cars collided with each other. The last of the citizens flee in a shrieking panic, leaving only the soldiers of the latest gang warfare.

The men range from early thirties, to as young as their late teens. All of them hide behind the numerous cars, exchanging a seemingly unending barrage of fully-automatic gunfire.

Their aim is sporadic and outright careless, riddling the various cars with countless bullets, damaging nearly every building, and nearby window.

Molotovs are thrown, forcing out of cover a couple of gangsters in a sheer panic. Within seconds, their bodies are riddled with fresh bullets, and they're dead before they have a chance to collapse onto the ground.

Screams of rage erupt from one side, with cheers roaring from the other. One young man charges head on towards the opposing side with the trigger held down every step of the way. He manages to graze one hiding behind an open car door, and a stray bullet headshots the other beside him. Yet, he, too, soon joins the fate of his allies, as the others are quick to punish him for his recklessness, adding another pool of blood to the carnage.

Soon, police sirens wail in the near distance, as the patrol cars close in. The gangs are divided between the North and South end of the intersection, with the police arriving from the West.

Police choppers with their searchlights on quickly appear, and they're immediately attacked by the gangs, forcing the choppers to keep very lengthy distance.

As the squad cars close in, thrusters roar between the blare of the sirens. It's D. Va's mech, closing in on the scene. As the squad cars attempt to maneuver through the abandoned cars, D. Va easily flies over them all.

Some of the gangs attempt to fire upon her as she's seconds away, but she quickly activates her defense matrix, easily soaking up all the bullets.

She lets out a small grin and states, "Game on." Her turrets unleash a hail of gunfire upon the shooters, quickly dropping them in a pool of blood and agony.

Immediately, the gangsters focus on their common enemy, and concentrate their fire upon her. But her defense matrix is still active, and she merely scoffs at their attempts.

's mech has now landed right before the intersection, with all the gangsters within her sights on both sides of the street. She holds her ground, and quickly returns fire against every last one of them.

The velocity of her bullets easily penetrate the vehicles, destroying all their cover. Some begin their attempt to switch hiding places, but her shots are too fast and too numerous, easily killing them where they stand. None can faze her. None can reach her. None can even threaten her, as she's easily ending this fight with every passing second.

Finally, the gunfire ceases, and she allows her turrets a chance to cool as they emit a faint trail smoke. Her mech slowly approaches, examining every car and every corner they may still be hiding behind.

Alas, the street is now filled with the wreckage of bullet holes and fresh bodies, but no gangsters.

"All clear," D. Va says on the radio. "Do a sweep of the area, there may be more nearby."

* * *

D. Va stands beside her mech with crossed arms and a solemn expression as she stares into the ground. The surrounding area is closed off with police tape to keep the citizens and news reporter vans at bay. The air is consumed with sirens of the squad cars, fire department, and of course incoming ambulances. Some of the bodies are being carried away on the gurneys, while others are being placed inside bodybags.

's superior now approaches her. He's a tall, slim man with his short hair covered by his police cap, wearing a faint, auburn stubble. "It's a mess," he begins, "but it's a winning mess. No civilian casualties, of course that might have changed if you weren't here."

"They're getting braver," she shrugs. "This wasn't some neighborhood turf war, but right in the middle of town." Her eyes meet his and she says, "And I'm sure you're about to answer my most pressing question."

"Then you've guessed right. Their weapons have gotten a serious upgrade. Fully-automatics; every guy we've searched so far had one."

"On _both_ sides of the fight?"

"Yeah. And what bothers me is they're all the same model of gun."

"There _was_ a robbery on Proto-Nic Security about a week—maybe ten days ago. We may have found our culprits. But..."

"But how did two warring gangs get access to the same guns?"

"Something I hope your detectives can answer for us. Let's just be glad their first practice targets were each other."

He places a hand on her shoulder with a nod and says, "Head back to the department, finish up the routine paperwork. And be ready. We'll likely need you again out here." He then walks off toward the other officers.

"Pfft. Yeah, need me to play savior again," she mumbles. Her eyes slowly trail to the ground. "There were _dozens_ of them out here, even after all our work these past couple months. More and more just keep on signing up. Always so damn young, always so stupid to think they're never gonna get killed out here." Her fingers push into her arms as she slightly grits her teeth.

She looks up to her mech and says, "I'm no real problem-solver, even with this thing. I can stop the ones dumb enough to run around shooting up the place..." Her eyes quickly focus on the crowd of citizens behind the police tape ahead of her. "But what about them? Every day they just get more scared and pissed off. What happens if I'm needed against them?"

D. Va releases a quick sigh, and heads for a nearby squad car with a titled head.


	3. Chapter 3

Sombra sits at the desk of her computer room. It's dimly lit, brightened only by the faint, purplish glow from her many computer monitors.

She accesses her newly hacked files from IMB Armaments, and brings up various images. One of them shows IMB Armaments personnel delivering a weapons shipment to ProtoNic Security outside the security's warehouse.

Sombra pulls up another image detailing a satellite view of the city, titled, _"Dropoff Locations."_

"Hmmmm. Now what do we have here? This happened... no more than two weeks ago?"

Sombra continues scanning through the archive of files. "And they just had that alleged robbery, didn't they? Every last gun missing."

She pulls up an email between the head of IMB Armaments, and an undisclosed recipient.

" _S,_

" _This is an automated message confirming the delivery of our packages to your employees. Within 48 hours of this message being sent, we will contact you to confirm the packages have been placed at their designated locations."_

"Mierda," she sighs. "So that's how that recent shootout happened. I'm thinking crime equals demand for more guns, then for more security, blah blah blah, they both get richer and live to get fat and old while everyone else dies. Now I get it. So then..."

Sombra pulls up another image, showcasing dozens of mechs lined together within a factory. They resemble the mechs currently employed by the police. Only these are solid black, and equipped with far more guns.

"This also explains their newest gift to the police. ' _Riot-Control_ ' they call it. Electro-shock grenades, tear gas cannons... anti-missle armor? Along with some other weapons you wouldn't use to keep the peace..."

Sombra swipes away the files and turns in her chair with hands behind her head. "Madre de dios, it's like they're _trying_ to cause anarchy at a record-breaking speed." A slight smirk quickly forms. "Wonder how much it's worth keeping this information private."

Sombra uses her gloves to create a screen showcasing her dozens of contacts, and lands on a 'Robert Shaw.' She compresses some of the files into a message to him, with the header reading, _"We need to talk ;)"_

* * *

The nightly city plaza. The area is littered with dozens of passersby, and a large, elegant fountain at the center. Countless streetlamps illuminate the plaza in their brightly yellow cloud, with several skyscrapers off in the foreground.

Robert Shaw sits alone at one of the fountain's benches. He's a middle-aged man, with slick, grayish hair combed back, donning a full suit jacket and tie. His squinted eyes stare straight ahead into empty space, as his hands deeply clench atop his knees.

His phone begins to ring, and he quickly pulls it out from his jacket pocket.

"So happy we could have this conversation," Sombra says over the phone.

"That only makes one of us," Shaw finishes through gritted teeth. "What. Do. You. Want."

Sombra is at a nearby skyscraper, aiming a sniper directly at Shaw's head as she speaks through her earpiece. "Oh, lots of things. A cute puppy. A fancy car. A nice banquet for dinner..." A sly smile forms on her face. "And with just a tiny contribution from you, all those things could be mine. Or..."

"Or?"

"Or those nifty little files spread across the entire country—the entire _world_ , in less than 24 hours, amigo. And if you're not in the giving spirit, there's plenty of black market customers for some of the other dirt I found on you, too."

Shaw immediately scans the area, his eyes darting across every corner of the plaza. "And how do I know you won't just leak the information anyway?"

"Ay, güey, calma, calma. We can be friends, yes? We can help each other. I could always use more nice things, and you could maybe use a little info on any competition."

Shaw slowly lowers his head so his mouth is covered by the collar of his jacket. He quickly presses mute on his phone and whispers, "Do you have eyes on the target?!"

On another skyscraper across from Sombra, lies Widowmaker, watching Shaw through her visor as she steadies her scope. Behind her lies a masked, dead woman clenching a rifle as her pool of blood slowly seeps out.

Widowmaker quickly scans the skyscrapers opposite of her, and notices Sombra's lone heat signature. "Yes. Target acquired."

Shaw begins to smirk and resumes the audio on his phone. "You'll have to understand if I don't think this 'friendship' is mutually beneficial. You _are_ a thief, after all. I'd be a fool to trust you."

"Hahaha, interesting choice of words, hipócrita. Just like those gangsters 'stole' all your weapons, too, huh? And let's not even get into the millions your company took last year in fraud alone."

"You keep talking like you have the upper hand here."

"And you do?"

"This may surprise you, but I didn't come here to negotiate."

"Ay, please, spare me the threats. You think I don't know there's a few of your security dressed as civilians down there? But, oye, interesting choice of words yet again. _I_ didn't come for negotiations either. If my hunch is right, you're not gonna use a teeny amount of your dirty money to make all this go away, huh?"

"The first correct thing you've said this entire exchange."

"I'll add another truth, then: tu es muerte, pendejo."

With a steady pull of the trigger, Sombra's shot instantly pierces Shaw's skull, and his body slowly slips off the park bench.

Widowmaker stands shocked, and the crowd below erupts into a roar of panicked screams and scattering citizens.

Sombra drops her sniper rifle and rests her hands on her hips. "Hmph. Shame. Guess I'll have to make some other friends."

Widowmaker realigns her sniper on Sombra's position and thinks, _"What type of woman_ is _she?"_ She slows her breath and begins to pull back on the trigger. As she does, Sombra vanishes into a purplish light. _"What?!"_

Widowmaker immediately scans the nearby area with her visor in search of Sombra. "Allez, montre-toi." One the other side of the skyscraper at street level, Sombra reappears at her translocator. "There you are!"

Widowmaker fires her grappling hook into a nearby skyscraper, and swings toward Sombra's location. She alternates her grappling hook between buildings as her light body quickly soars through the air, and over the dozens of running citizens below.

With one last swing, she lowers the cable to angle herself more at street level. She jumps from the swing and easily lands on the sidewalk among the scattering people. Without wasting a second, she sprints for Sombra's location and catches her running through the crowd.

Widowmaker removes her visor, and switches her rifle to automatic fire as she attempts to steady her aim in-between the passersby. She fires a quick shot, but grazes a man's shoulder that walked in front of her.

The man collapses on the ground as he and many around him begin to shriek.

"Merde!" Widowmaker curses.

Sombra turns and immediately spots Widowmaker who is now glaring at Sombra. Sombra quickly dashes away towards a nearby alleyway on her left, and Widowmaker gives chase.

Sombra runs through the narrow, deserted alleyway and lobs her translocator as high as she can manage onto the roof above. As she finishes her throw, Widowmaker reaches the alleyway, and immediately fires several rounds in Sombra's direction. Sombra barely activates the teleport in time, and the bullets pass through her dim, purple silhouette.

"Adiós, idiota, hahaha."

Widowmaker fires her grappling hook at the roof, and quickly zips up to the rooftop.

"No manches!" Sombra yells, and fires her smg at Widowmaker.

Widowmaker dives away from the fire as Sombra activates her cloak and sprints off. Widowmaker unleashes a quick burst of rounds at Sombra's last location, but no response.

She dashes toward the direction Sombra took off in and equips her visor. "You can't hide from me." She spots Sombra's heat signature jumping across to the next rooftop. Widowmaker immediately follows behind her, and jumps to the next roof.

As soon as she lands, she continues her run after Sombra while steadying the scope at Sombra's back. Sombra glances over her shoulder, and instantly jumps to the side as Widowmaker fires another short burst.

Sombra returns fire with her smg, but the nimble Widowmaker easily dives away from her reckless fire. Her cloak is now broken, and she quickly aims her smg at the approaching Widowmaker, who still has her own crosshairs trained on Sombra.

Widowmaker creeps closer and closer toward Sombra, as Sombra slowly backs away toward the roof's edge.

"Uh, look," Sombra jests, "if it's about money, I'm pretty sure you're not getting any from the late Robert Shaw. Why not do the smart thing, save the ammo since you've wasted plenty already, and walk away."

Widowmaker smirks and replies, "Cornered like the prey you are, you attempt to defend with words. As pitiful as it is ineffective."

Sombra nervously chuckles and says, "Okaaaay. Score one for Team Creepy. So I take it ProtoNic wasn't your employer, since you haven't put that gun down?"

"I've more reasons than you might ever understand. A huntress does not end her hunt once it's begun, no matter the reason. That final breath—the deadly quiet before the kill?" Widowmaker strengthens her grip and whispers, " _These_ are the moments I live for."

Sombra immediately jumps over the roof just in time to dodge Widowmaker's shot. Widowmaker rushes over to see Sombra, who waves goodbye as she teleports.

"Dammit!"

Sombra reappears on the rooftop above the alleyway, and rushes down the fire escape's ladder to return to the streets below. Reactivating her cloak, she heads back into the main street of scattering people, as blaring sirens begin their approach.


End file.
